I am Director of the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam (Germany) and Professor of Chemistry and Bio-materials at the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge (UK). I am a 2019 Philip Leverhulme Prize Winner.

I work on light’s interaction with materials in order to understand how it produces optical effects. I study man-made materials that mimic natural structures. My research interest is located at the interface of chemistry, physics and biology.